State Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said that Chief Minister Harish Rawat has directed the formation of a permanent task force for tackling forest fires.
Chairing a meeting with department officials here on Thursday, the Minister expressed concern at the incidents of forest fires in the State and stressed that the department should do all that was necessary to effectively prevent forest fires.
He directed that all leaves of department officers and personnel be cancelled in view of the forest fires.
Instructing that the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) executive committee meeting be called on Thursday itself, he said that Rs 10 lakh each should be released immediately to the 40 forest divisions against the Rs 4 crore proposals received for preventing forest fires.
Talking to the district magistrates over the phone, the Minister said the DM heads the district’s fire committee and should execute his or her role efficiently in mitigating forest fires by coordinated action involving Forest Department, Public Works Department, Van Panchayats and voluntary organizations. Talking to the chief secretary, Aggarwal directed him to issue necessary directions regarding forest fire control and wildlife protection to the district magistrates from his level on Thursday itself.
Considering the incidents of forest fires in the summer, he directed the DMs not to acquire personnel or vehicles of the forest department. All forest guest houses should be kept reserved for forest department officials since the department officials are travelling from one place to another for tackling forest fires.
The Minister also appealed to the general public to inform at the Van Mitra service on 9208008000 in case they saw any person setting fire in the jungle or spot any forest fire. Any person reported to have set a fire in the jungle should also be reported to the police station and range office concerned.
He directed department officials to immediately get a couple of crew stations in high risk areas and provide the staff posted there with ration, water, helmets, shoes and fire fighting equipment so that they can take timely action in case of forest fire.
The help of the fire brigade should be taken in forest fire related works and also provided to it when sought. Principal chief conservator of forests SS Sharma, PCC (Wildlife) Anil Kumar Datt, PCCF (Van Panchayat) Rajendra Kumar, CCF Garhwal BP Gupta, CCF (Wildlife) Dhananjai Mohan and chief wildlife warden DVS Khati among others were present in the meeting.